Baptism: A Comprehensive Discussion
Introduction
Baptism is a Christian ritual that involves washing water over the head or entire body of someone who is publicly entering the church. Whether the baptism is done by dunking someone entirely under the water (a practice common among Baptists) or sprinkling water on someone's forehead (a practice common in the Roman Catholic Church), water is important because of its presence in the baptism of Jesus and because of its symbolic qualities.
Baptisms are almost exclusively performed by ordained clergy. Although the details of a baptism vary a lot across denominations, the clergy will somehow put water upon the person's head (by sprinkling, pouring, etc.) or whole body (by dunking). The vast majority of clergy will then say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” While baptizing in the name of the Trinity is the most common and most historically practiced method, some denominations baptize “in the name of Jesus,” and some pastors baptize in the name of the “Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer” or other alternative formulas. After baptizing a person or group of people, the congregation will then make a pledge to welcome the baptized into their community and help that person grow in his or her faith.
History
Baptist beginnings are associated with John Smyth (1554–1612), a Separatist Puritan minister in England. As a Separatist, Smyth was convinced that the Church should be separate from the English Crown. As a Puritan, he believed that the Church of England needed further purification from the remaining vestiges of Catholicism. His views were contrary to the Anglican Church of that time, and rather than face persecution, he fled to Holland with his London congregation. While there, he was influenced by Mennonites, who converted him to their view of believer's baptism. Believer's baptism is the belief that infant baptism is not biblical, and therefore should be discontinued. In its place they argued for what they believed was the biblical model for baptism in which a new convert first professed his or her new faith and then was baptized. In practice, this meant that usually only adults or teens would be baptized, never infants. This was a radical notion since infant baptism had been practiced almost exclusively for at least a thousand years. Smyth is responsible for articulating two core Baptist principles—this idea of believer's baptism, and the idea of religious liberty. He also founded the first Baptist church while in Holland.
Beliefs And Practices
Baptists can be identified by their unique beliefs, organizational structures, and worship practices. Two major beliefs have dominated Baptists thought through the years. Believer's baptism and the separation of church and state are two key components to a Baptist identity. Primarily, Baptists have always been motivated by the concern for all of humanity to become baptized believers. Through efforts of evangelism, foreign missionaries, and educational institutions, Baptists have sought to find ways to emphasize conversion to their understanding of Christianity. This understanding is a rejection of infant baptism emphasized in most mainline denominations, and an emphasis on bringing persons to a crisis point where they accept the atoning work of Jesus on their behalf, and then publicly profess this through the initiatory act of baptism. In Baptist theology, it is not the baptism itself that works conversion, but the individual's profession that she or he now accept the atoning work of Jesus. Baptism is a symbolic and obedient act that publicly confirms the interior spiritual condition of the one being baptized.
Importance, Controversy and Comparative
In the words of Riggs (2002) one reason baptism has been so important to African Americans is that it is, at least in theory, a racial equalizer. This idea is supported by scripture. The book of Galatians in the Bible says, “For as many of you as were baptized have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Baptism, as the quintessential symbol of spiritual rebirth, made converts, regardless of social or economic rank, equally Christian. This belief rendered an ethical justification of slavery problematic. While a landowner and an enslaved black may have had different material wealth, theologically they were equally Christian after baptism and could attain identical spiritual riches.
The early Christians discovered in these words a demonstration of the privileged position as men and women as children of a heavenly father like him, and even more special place occupied by Christ. That position took exception to the first generations of believers to grant him equal status with the Father, and who later used the expression "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sent in the name of Christ" as part of the formula used in the administration of baptism and the varied faiths of the early centuries. After many disputes and discussions, this expression took the form of God in the doctrine of the Trinity.
From the beginning, the road to start in Christianity has been the baptism "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" or sometimes simply "in the name of Christ." At first, it seems that baptism was given him over all adults, after having expressed their faith and have promised to correct their lives.The widespread practice of baptism is extended to more children as commemorated in communion with each other, in the mass.The way it was acquiring the Eucharist as it evolved, was a careful and consecration ceremony of worship, eucharistic texts from writings, especially in the early centuries of Christianity.
McBeth (1990) mention that the baptism was becoming the new agreement to be performed by men on earth to follow God's plan. At the time of John the Baptist, all had been ceremonial in the Jewish people. From Moses was marked how the Jews had to meet to continue the promise made to Abraham. Any foreigner who wanted to be the Jewish people, should be circumcised.
The cause of the accusation made by the Sanhedrin Jesus Christ, seeking to kill him, was for blasphemy (McBeth 1990). They claimed that Jesus was proclaimed the Son of God. Jesus Christ until his death fulfilled the law marked the Jews, only that the Last Supper, initiated the Compliance be He, the Paschal Lamb, which began at Easter in a different way, they should recall parts blessing the bread and wine, in remembrance of his body and blood. Jesus was circumcised, played well with the Jewish ritual within Jewish religion to which he belonged. So he must not be baptized to belong to the people of God.
There is a story in which Peter as a Jew, was intended to continue with the ritual practices, accepting the Gospel to keep in mind that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not merely a set of ceremonial laws but the New Covenant. Jesus expanded the concept of God's people, and luckily we included agreement that through baptism we can be called sons of God and being of their offspring. John the Baptist called for repentance, baptism, and then the High Priest.
